MASU Students’ Administrative Council
Meeting Minutes
July 20th, 2020
1. Call to order: 6:08
2. Land Acknowledgement
3. Approval of the agenda
BE IT RESOLVED (moved by Councillor Tobin, seconded by Councillor Ferguson) that the July 20th, 2020 Students’ Administrative Council Agenda be approved.
· Agenda clearly passes.
4. Approval of the minutes
5. BE IT RESOLVED (moved by Councillor Blakney, seconded by Councillor Tobin) that the minutes from July 6th, 2020 meeting of the Students’ Administrative Council be approved.
· Minutes clearly pass
6. Executive Updates
President:
· Lots of work done surrounding the tuition increase:
o Focussing on communication with students, admin, etc.
o A petition was also released with over 2000 signatures of support collected.
· Return to campus set to take place mid-August (around the 15th)
· Attended the Maritime Student Congress conference along with the other members of the executive.
o Lots of work and discussion surrounding the facilitation of international students arriving in the Fall
· Attended various tech meetings with Councillor Burke, specifically regarding the issues with the Microsoft teams program.
o The current university plan is to use Microsoft for facilitating classes remotely but there
· Tuition raise update:
o It is seeming less likely that our call for a repeal in the tuition increase will be honoured. Our attention will be shifting to a call for more transparency from the administration regarding their choice; a more comprehensive breakdown of where the additional money will be spent and how this benefits students.
VPAA:
· The contract with Nimbus has officially been signed and Councillor Burke is continuing to meet with Shelley Collette and Anne Comfort, all of whom will be receiving training from Nimbus on how to use the app and service.
· Working on adjusting the times for in-person classes
o Hoping to start 5 minutes later to give students more travel time to accommodate for the on-campus regulations
VPE:
· Welcome center update:
o Green bracelets will be issued for students who have been through the welcome centre and are allowed on campus.
o Off-campus the bracelet carries no weight, but only those with a bracelet will be allowed on-campus.
· Bike co-op is now running with adjusted times to accommodate the new bike coordinator
o Bikes can now be taken out from the bike shed Tuesday and Wednesday 5:30-6:30pm or Sunday 5pm (for free!).
VPAA:
· Continuing work on updating the operating procedures
· Campus trust:
o Councillor Nolan was elected as co-chair for Campus Trust and has begun fulfilling the duties of this position while representing the MASU on the board.
· MASU OneDrive: Since everyone has been switched to Office365, Councillor Nolan has set up a OneDrive for all staff, representatives, etc. of the MASU to access and upload content
o Stay tuned for an email explaining all of this
VPSL:
· Anti-racist Ally’s Toolkit: an extensive document for BIPOC and non-BIPOC students to access resources on how to be actively anti-racist, a better ally to racialized groups, and self-care and mental health resources for BIPOC students.
· Orientation fees are being lowered to reflect the difference in services and events that will be offered during orientation this year
· Attended two different conferences in the two weeks since the last meeting to network with other school executives
· Forming a group of all students doing work related to mental health to streamline and focus these efforts
7. Business arising from the minutes
Presentation from Councillor Nolan: Operating procedure 26
Motion to approve Operating Procedure 26 as presented
(Seconded by Mike Cormier)
· Motion Clearly passes
8. Reminders
Presentation from Councillor Robinson: Youth Partnership Initiative
· YPI is a project funded by CECNB- it seeks to give volunteers an opportunity to seek all kinds of resources (financial, workshops, mentorship, etc.)
9. In Camera
Motioned by Councillor Tobin, seconded by Councillor Burke
10. Adjournment: 7:17pm
Until August 4th (motioned by Tobin, seconded by Whiteway)
Motion to adjourn the Students’ Administrative Council Meeting until the next meeting on August 4th, 2020.
(Moved by Councillor Burke, Seconded by Councillor Tobin).